Happy Easter!!

We got our first visitors at our new house this weekend:  Grandma Cherie and Grandpa Wayne! The boys didn't skip a beat with getting Grandma and Grandpa involved in playing and helping to break in our new home...

On Friday, there was lots of playtime:

...in the new sand/water table that Gus got for his bday from Gma and Gpa (even though Arjen calls it his)...

...with playdoh...

...and time at the park.

On Saturday, it was time to get down to Easter business.  We had to create the Osterbaum!

Arjen was very excited to get "his" ladder out so he could hang eggs.  He took it from the garage and set it up all on his own!

Gus was a little better at taking eggs down than putting them up, but considering last Easter he was only a little peanut wrapped up in a moby sling, he was quite the active participant this year!

Arjen was excited to find there was a perfect Arjen-sized space for him to stand in.  Gus still needs to work on learning his poses for pictures.  

Even Pole-dog got in on the action.  She likes to supervise. 

We managed to also dye some easter eggs, however with tiny toddler hands and the potential for big toddler messes, the camera never made it to the table to immortalize the moments.  But we got some nice looking eggs, and Arjen was pretty into it.

In the afternoon, we decided it was time to finally go check out the beach.  We hadn't been since moving down here, so off we went towards Laguna Beach.  Half and hour later (thanks to traffic) and 10 degrees colder, we landed at Aliso Beach Park.  The boys had a blast playing in the sand with Grandma, Grandpa, and each other.  Arjen even got to dip his feet, and eventually a good portion of his whole body, in the ocean.  We also managed to see a lot of wildlife!  First there was a sea lion, then we saw whales, and then a school of dolphins! No joke.  It was pretty amazing. 

Somebody was waaay ready for a nap.  

Managed to get some video of the sea lion playing in the water.  The whales and dolphins were further out and would've been tough to get on the iPhone.

Which brings us to today, Easter Sunday.  We woke up to a beautiful morning, but someone took all of our eggs!  The boys had fun hunting around the house for the missing eggs, which we determined were hidden by the Easter Bunny.  They managed to find most all of the eggs, as well as easter baskets and some new sand toys.  In this age of being able to document every little moment of life, I made a conscious decision to leave the phone in my pocket and just enjoy the wonder and excitement of watching my kids experience our first "real" Easter, at least the kind kids typically look forward to and remember.  :)  

Photo op with Gma and Gpa

Family photo op...with a falling egg that quickdraw McGus managed to sneak in there!

Boys just wanna have fuh-un

As crazy insane as some days seem with these two little "beelers" (Cherie, I was supposed to ask you about beelers last summer!), a lot of days I just love that Apple makes it so easy for me to document all of their cuteness with a simple gadget called an iPhone.  A few pics and vids for your viewing pleasure:

Arjen has really become good at driving his gator.  The kid can do a 3-point turn without any help.  He might spin his wheels every now and then, but I've been impressed with how well he can actually drive.  Gus fully embraces the passenger roll...it's hard to tell because of my shaky videography, but he gets himself going bouncing in his seat with excitement. You can see it on his face at one point too.  :)

Gus has also fully embraced the fun that is riding bikes.  He knows he needs his helmet and will grab it and tap on it until you put it on his head so he can ride his bike.  And in this video, he figured out the bell for the first time, and is clearly proud.  And Arjen still loves riding his strider.  Sorry to say I can't really translate whatever he's screaming as he rides by, but you can tell he's having fun as always.

Then there's Gus the golfer.  He's got some serious hand-eye coordination for such a young dude.  And he's definitely starting to get the whole talking thing...

And some still shots...

Meeting of the minds

There's this cool castle park nearby that the boys and I went to the other day.  Gus was enjoying the little section that was just his size...

I'm taking as many happy smiley pics of this ham as I can before...

...before he realizes that he can choose whether or not to smile for the camera, and decides not to!

 And Arjen was really excited to finally have his sand toys back (we finally got to the box they had been hiding in).

Then there is the little "tot lot" in our housing association area.  The one right behind our house has been dubbed "the little park" by Arjen.  We ventured a little further yesterday and they got to check out a new little park.  Fortunately, my kids agreed to sit in the shade of the slide for snack time since mom didn't think about putting on sunscreen.  That'll be the last time!

Arjen continues to keep his helmet on whenever he rides his bike somewhere, even while he's not riding his bike.  I'm curious how long this trend will last for.    

 And sometimes I get to witness moments like this, when both boys are calm, quiet, and peacefully sharing space together inside the house!  I love these moments.  :)   (even if I don't quite capture it well on camera)

Friday night we braved the restaurant scene, and decided to check out a new mexican place.  Gus was being the quiet observer for a little while, but pretty quickly thought the chips and salsa looked like a good idea!

Arjen's kid's meal came with a popsicle, the kind that splits into two...

So Gus got to try his first pop pop!

His popsicle face looks worse than his salsa face did!

But in the end, the popsicle was clearly a winner!

I miss the Nugget

As I sit here trying to plan meals for this week, and which grocery store will give me inspiration on my planned grocery shopping outing this afternoon, I really miss the Nugget.  I mean, I was excited to check out our neighborhood "Pavillions", which from the outside looked like it could rival Nugget.  But once inside, I had a strange feeling of deja vu.  All of a sudden, I realized I was in a Safeway, and then my groceries came out in a Vons bag.  I tell you, even the grocery stores here have identity and appearance issues.  For any of you from Davis, or who have been in Davis enough to have experienced the Nugget, you'll understand. It is possibly the greatest grocery store I have ever had the pleasure of shopping at.  I have come nowhere close to finding anything that even deserves a comparison here.  Kind of a good analogy for how great my mom is too.  I think I do a pretty darn good job of parenting my kids and cooking healthy meals for them, and I think sometimes I even look and sound like her, but she just has her own special magic with kids and food.  Maybe if I channel my inner Eileen, the grocery stores here will start to channel their inner Nugget.  Or, perhaps I'll take a page out of her book and create our own Nugget here in the backyard...

I believe they are headed to the bakery section here, looking for bagels...

Perimeter shopping...the healthy way to go!

Ooh, those look like good "little oranges"

Park the trailer hitch and get on out!  Have you seen how awesome this is?!?

And then of course you need to test all the produce to make sure it's the right stuff!

If only grocery shopping, meal planning, and interacting with kids were as easy as she makes it look!  I miss you too, Mom!  What's for dinner? :)

Arjen: 2 going on 20

This boy amazes me daily with the things that he says, does, comprehends....Honestly, I think kids have to be smarter than adults at this age. The way their little sponges of brains just soak everything up, chew on it, then spit it back out without any prompting, or coaxing, or even teaching. It's amazing. His memory is probably the most impressive.  He'll talk about things from a week or more ago, and most of the time he'll remember things that I've already forgotten.  He remembers people, and names, and places.  We've been taking Andrew to work, and before we're even on the office street yet, he'll yell out "there's Daddy's office!"  And a few blocks away is a drive-thru Starbucks that became a bad habit for the chauffeur after she dropped Daddy off at the office.  It took Arjen calling out my order for me to realize that I should probably stop going so frequently!

He can now hold up two fingers and say "two!" when asked how old he is.  And he can count to three.

He'll "read" a story to you.

Here are just a few recent moments caught on camera, that make me laugh, smile, an just feel full of raw awe:

The boys have been enjoying all of the "new" toys that they've been discovering as we unpack.  Among them was a snorkel.  I don't recall Arjen ever having seen a snorkel before, and if he did, it would have been at the lake last summer.  So you can imagine our surprise when he put the mask on, then proceeded to "go snorkeling."  (In case you can't tell in this pic, he's down on the ground "splashing in the water")

And sometimes, watching your kid is like watching some sort of autobiography or like watching yourself in some bizarre house of mirrors.  Here, Arjen is on the phone (a calculator), talking to Ranee. It had been over a week or more I'm pretty sure, since she and I had talked, and I don't recall having talked about her to him that day, so why he chose to call her is beyond me.  Perhaps he knew I was thinking I should!  But it's the body language, and the tone of voice that make me laugh and feel like I'm watching a mini-mommy-impersonator.  If only I was fast enough to have caught this on video.

This is my new favorite though.  We've been doing a lot of shopping these days, getting odds and ends for the house, stocking up on groceries.  Both boys are generally happy to ride in the double wide cart at Target, but Arjen is always asking to get out and walk.  They both definitely love the car cart at Home Depot, and it's a little easier to convince Arjen he needs to drive the cart so he'll stay in it.  But it's TJ's that takes the cake.  They have Arjen sized shopping carts!   It's a win-win.  He gets to walk, and I get a personal shopper!

And then there's the part about being a big brother.  Now that Gus is fairly sturdy on his feet, he's showing more interest in bikes and trikes.  So of course he needs a helmet.  Arjen, being the helpful kid that he is, took it upon himself to go "help" Gus put his helmet on.  He's still working on the accuracy part of placing it on Gus's head and not his face...

Backyard fun

The boys had a good time playing in the backyard today.

Fun with Playdoh

Gus found a "cozy" spot to relax

Rockin the crazy coupe  (new bday toy!)

Birthday Fun!

This year was a special birthday year for the Keane-Miller-Anderson Clan.  Gus turned 1 on the 28th, and Casey turned 28 on the 1st!  We all thought it was a fun coincidence, and thanks to Shannon for pointing it out!

After having spent our first weekend in our new home, without any traveling for any of us, it was time to head back up to Davis for one more weekend, to both pick up our other car and last trailer load, and of course to celebrate birthdays! Thank you to Baba and Dave for creating a fabulous birthday feast and party!

Gus's cake.   Still made straight out of the box, but at least I decorated it!

Casey's cake, a carrot cake at her request!

Some partied in the Kitchen

Some partied out back

And others partied in the living room

Gus was a trooper and made it all the way until after dinner to get his cake!  He kept reaching for it, and mostly wanted to just grab all the M&M's off of it, but he managed to have a little fun eating it too...

Well, he didn't spit it out like he did with his birthday brownie!

Should probably put some in the hair for good measure

Should I paint my whole face or just half?

Arjen was also a trooper in waiting all day for birthday cake...even after waking up 5 minutes into his nap earlier in the day, just to make sure we weren't eating birthday cake without him!

I AM ONE! 

The gardener and mechanic

Having fun waiting for the moving truck to arrive!